The Guest Request SOP

Read the request log and the last shift’s handover: every open request with the time promised, the guest’s name and room, and the colleague it was passed to.

Check today’s hours and locations for every service: restaurants, bar, spa, pool, gym, shop, shuttle and any event in house. Keep the sheet within reach of the desk.

Learn the in-house guests to watch: VIPs, returning guests, occasions, anyone with an open complaint. Their names should not need the screen.

Check yourself against The Presence SOP before you take the desk or the phone: uniform, name badge, a clear counter, and the day’s VIPs in mind.

The lines in this SOP, and in every front office SOP, are examples. Say them in your own words, in full sentences, and let the guest finish before you speak.

Acknowledge the guest within 5 seconds, even mid-task with someone else: eye contact, a nod, and their name if you know it. Finish your sentence, not the screen.

“Good evening, Mr Novak. One moment, and you have my full attention.”

With a queue at the desk, serve each guest within 1 minute. If you cannot, call a colleague from the back office, the concierge or guest relations to open a second position.

“Ms Haddad, my colleague Karim will help you right away.”

Answer every message (app, chat or text) within 3 minutes with the guest’s name and a time for the full answer. Calls on the house phone follow The In-House Line SOP.

“Good afternoon, Mr Novak. I’m on it, and I’ll write again by 15:30 with the details.”

If the guest is on the phone or distracted, wait facing them, without turning back to the screen. When they look up, start again with their name.

Let the guest finish. Write the request down as they say it, with the time and the channel, so nobody asks them to repeat it later.

Find the request behind the request with one question about the why, never two. Nobody wants a late check-out for itself; they want to leave unhurried before a 16:00 flight.

“So that I can arrange this properly, may I ask what time your flight is?”

Repeat the request back in one sentence before you act, and wait for the guest’s yes. A misheard request costs far more than the ten seconds this takes.

“So that’s a table for four at 20:30 tomorrow, somewhere quiet, with a high chair. Is that right?”

Check the profile for anything that changes the answer: a known preference, an allergy, an earlier request like this one, a note from guest relations.

Never answer with a flat no. Say what you can do, and by when; if the first answer is no, offer two alternatives, as The Alternatives SOP sets out.

“The suite is booked tonight, but I can hold your room until 14:00 and give you the spa lounge after. I’ll confirm by 11:00.”

Give a time with every answer, even when the answer is that you will find out. The time is the promise; without it the guest has nothing to hold.

If you don’t know a service’s hours or where it is, say so, find out, and come back within 2 minutes. Never guess an opening time.

“Let me check the gym’s hours for you. I’ll be back in two minutes.”

Items for the room (pillows, an iron, ice, amenities) reach the guest within 10 minutes, 15 in a resort. Every other request gets its answer, or a confirmed time, within 2 hours at most. If it needs longer, tell the guest within those 2 hours what happens next.

If another department delivers, pass it on by name: the guest’s name and room, the request in one line, the time you promised. Ask them to tell you when it is done.

If the request has a cost, give the price before you act and wait for the guest’s agreement. The request stays in your name in the log until you see it delivered.

Close the loop yourself, before the promised time, whether the answer is yes or no. Go back in person if the guest is near; otherwise call or write on the channel they used.

“Mr Novak, as promised: your room is yours until two, and the spa is expecting you at half past twelve.”

If the promise is going to slip, tell the guest before the time passes, with a new time and the reason in one sentence. Silence after a promised time is what turns into a complaint.

Check the delivery yourself or with a call: the table is in the diary, the pillows are in the room, the car is booked under the guest’s name.

Thank the guest when the request is closed, in person, on the phone or in writing, and tell them how to reach you next time.

“Thank you for letting us know, Mr Novak. For anything else, just call me at the desk.”

If you go off shift before it is closed, hand it over with a name and a time, as The Shift Handover SOP sets out, and tell the guest who now has it.

Before you leave the desk, write the request, the outcome and the preference underneath it to the profile, in one line: “Flies early afternoon. Prefers unhurried mornings. Offer late check-out at booking.”

Close the request in the log with the time it was delivered and your initials. An open line in the log is a promise nobody is keeping.

If the request showed a fault (a broken safe, a slow tray, wrong hours on the website), report it to the head of that department the same day.

Once a week the front office manager reads the log for requests over 2 hours, promises missed and guests who asked twice. Each one goes to the next briefing.